LooseSuits

Yes, it's gone down the myspace path quite a ways. Very annoying, very cheap now.

MSN Messenger? People still use that?

Yes people do use MSN.

What else is there?

The AOL behemoth.
AOL Instant Messenger.

However these days it should be spelled "Adium" or "Pidgin"

I try and keep a very clean FB page - no vampires biting people, no sheep flying through the air, no need to worry about a zombie lurking round the corner... I use it as it says on the tin: to keep in touch with people.

You seem to disparage this and prefer MSN which is a valid point of view. I used to be an MSN/IM junky then I got RSI and other interests so my online time got cut drastically. I still live a full online life, but it's much more asynchronous. With Facebook I don't have to rely on my friends being online at the same time as me. I can leave them a private message or write on their wall safe in the knowledge that they will respond when they can.

I have my beefs with Facebook. The sheer gaudiness of some peoples profiles is a little distracting and their whole take on privacy and ownership of data is... concerning, but in general it fills a gap and does what it I need it to do rather well.

Everytime I log in, I have to sift through all the ridiculous app invitations, so yeah it annoys the hell out of me. I used to check it all the time and now I just leave be for days at a time.

All hail Pidgin. Connector of all IM's that you could possibly name...and yeah, the bulk of my IM's are all MSN and barely a handful for AIM.

I'm sick of all the useless apps. I've stripped them out and just use FB as a way to stay in touch with people. For that it's great.

"friends about who dresses the coolest and who is the cutest"

that is probably it. and that is not to say that their aren't any lame people on facebook but the answer to the question is probably simpler than we think.

I was actually listening to the Economist Podcast and one of the subjects that came up was Facebook and social networks. The host of the show equivocated social awkwardness of body language to the increase of technologies that allow us to communicate from a distance.

http://www.economist.com/theworldin/podcast/

Listen to it I think it's cool.

I use FB as a networking tool, a directory.

A bit more relaxed than FB, but still a far cry from MySpace or whatever.

People occasionally send me a movie quiz but that's it. No vampires either.

I only add people I know, have been reading a long time, or emailed over stuff.

That said, Twitter has become my networking, staying in touch, relaxing place.

MSN is still the no. 1 IM over here (Belgium).

I love Facebook still, maybe I'm one of the many few. I'm not big on all the applications and stuff though. I've definitely heard a lot of complaining about Facebook, but people love it, that's all there is to it. If someone doesn't like all the applications and stuff, then they don't have to use them.

So what's wrong with MSN Messenger??? You can use it keep in contact with people around the world, can't you.

Yes you can still use this, but Facebook provides more information about their friends than MSN messenger, and people what more information. Whether people like it or not, it's apart of our culture now so people see excitement in it, the same way college students spend time checking a bunch of away messages to kill time on AIM.

So to answer your question, no I'm annoyed with it. I changed my settings to only get emailed when I have a friend request/wall writing/message and I'm all set.

Yes you can still use this, but Facebook provides more information about their friends than MSN messenger, and people what more information.

This, for me, is the most vital aspect. Unlike messaging programmes, Facebook is a clearly a networking tool. It allows us to connect with others almost as if through a breadcrumb trail: add a friend, see who he or she is already friends with, spot a few you know, get in touch, ad infinitum.

Further, in displaying information about a person on their own pages*, it is very easy to keep apprised of someone's circumstances and well-being without having to directly speak to them all individually.

* I know MSN has Spaces, but they fail to collate and group information in such a clear format. Nor do they update themselves autonomously, requiring direct intervention from the Space's owner.

I'm past annoyed. I want to dump a metric ton of Spam in their driveway.

I presume you're fed up getting messages via Facebook. I don't see why it's an issue if you can alter your preferences so not to be sent any notifications. I kept getting bugged by Funwall requests. A couple of clicks later I had accepted one, told the application not to step foot on my page, and then marked the whole thing as spam. Job done; spam email gone.

Actually I don't even have a Facebook profile:D What is this I hear about zombies and vampires?

Well anyway, I was out at a bar on Saturday and got really annoyed with the bar tender. He at the cashier and apparently they have internet on the screen, long story short. The bar tender wouldn't take people's order until he finished writing a comment on his FB account.

Now that's jumping the shark, and why do they let their bartenders have access to the internet while they're working. Some people had to wait a couple of minutes to get their order in.

Half of bartending is standing around and waiting for a customer. As glamorous and exciting as it may seem, it can get boring. I've been known to surf during downtime. Not when people are waiting.

Sounds like your issue is more with an idiot bartender than with Facebook.

I like facebook and think it's a useful networking tool. But I don't get why people go for all the pointless applications etc. Seems like a waste of time. And competitive in a teenage kind of way.